It was the game the rivalry deserved. And now that it’s over, just a few simple words say it all. The Ducks are going to the Rose Bowl.

Wow.

The game wasn’t always always clean, but it was one for the ages.

Ducks and Beavers traded blows for 60 minutes and as has been the case all season, Oregon wore its opponent down in the second half and asserted itself when the game entered the decisive stages.

Until then, it looked like the Beavers might take control and use a script laid out by the Ducks in 2008 to ruin the home team’s Rose Bowl dreams. But would you believe that when things were at their worst, Chip Kelly would turn to LeGarrette Blount for the first time since the season opener?

Putting Blount in the game while facing a nine point deficit seemed crazy. Turns out, it was brilliant as the big back came up with a huge touchdown to draw Oregon within two at 30-28.

From there, LaMichael James became dominant, turning in a 52 yard lead-taking touchdown run on the next offensive series. The defense began to shine after giving up scores on five consecutive drives between the second and third quarters.

When the game was on the line in the final six minutes, it was fitting to see Jeramiah Masoli, James and Blount all turning in huge plays to ultimately ensure the Beavers would never get another chance.

Oregon State played a great game. Sean Canfield looks like a bonafide pro. The Rodgers brothers are ridiculously talented. And they all deserve a much better bowl than what might be available after Saturday’s games. The Holiday had better think long and hard about the Beavers who would travel well and be an ideal representative for the Pac-10 in the league’s second best bowl.

But I’m sure opponent respect isn’t what the Beavers were after. Clearly, they wanted the spoils of the victor, but Thursday, those were reserved for Oregon.

As the final seconds ticked down and melted into a post game celebration where fans could not and would not leave, the scene at Autzen Stadium seemed surreal even through ESPN’s cameras a state away.

I sat and watched. And smiled. And kept smiling. And then I saw that first red rose, and Oh My God! The Ducks are in the Rose Bowl! That really just happened. How sweet it is.

Damn you day job…don’t you know my true love is Oregon Duck blogging? How dare you distract me. Let’s catch up on the week so far.

What’s more fun? Reading about LeGarrette Blount or Getting Hit By Him?

I have a medical condition known as Blount Fatigue. I don’t want to hear about it anymore. Give him a carry. Or don’t. Just stop talking about it! Terrell Owens called and said he wants his attention back.

Like Ron Burgundy said on his ESPN audition, “That’s just dumb”

Am I reading this right? An Oregon State player would rather play in the Holiday Bowl than root for Oregon this weekend to set up the Beavers’ shot at a Rose Bowl? And people agree with him? I always root for whatever is best for the Oregon Ducks. Period. If that means I have to dress up with buck teeth, slap a flat tail on my ass and gnaw on some trees for a weekend, so be it (do with the visual what you will).

Masoli! Look out! It’s Arizona!

Did you hear? Arizona is where Duck quarterbacks go to die (or suffer season-ending injuries). The last two desert trips have resulted in Kellen Clemens and Dennis Dixon playing their last down of college football. No, really, it happened in both 2005 and 2007. Honestly, how many of these friendly reminder articles do I need to give you? It’s mostly The Oregonian’s fault. Apparently, they want whatever resilient part of me that soldiered on two years ago to finally die.

I Smell Roses

I was just reading about this viral video that didn’t “viral” it’s way to my laptop before the University of Oregon freaked out and shut it down. But Google is still my friend and while I get the UO’s point, you can’t stop the internet. It’s kind of big. In case you’re like me and just crawled out from under your rock, here it is courtesy of Yahoo Australia (sorry Angie, you should have let me be a marketing intern).

It happened a week later than perhaps everyone thought, but LeGarrette Blount will be back in an Oregon uniform, finally able to shed the opposing team’s colors from his scout team work.

The story is well known, everyone has their own, immovable opinions and there’s really nothing new to talk about here.

The Oregonian’s John Canzano will literally explode trying to take everyone to task, Duck fans will fall for his bait, OregonLive.com will make some money, most everyone else will say this is the right thing to do, the blog you are reading hates this topic, Blount will play on Saturday and we can all move on.

Oy vey.

This week’s prediction post takes on a different approach after having read Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News make his case for Stanford. While applauding his gumption for sticking his neck out in defense of the home town team, I found myself agreeing with, well, none of it.

As such, I have to offer my counter. Wilner’s 10 reasons the Cardinal will win are summarized to keep this thing from turning into a novella.

10. Wilner says: Stanford plays disciplined defense which will make up for a disadvantage in speed.
OTP says: The Cardinal are 7th against the run in the Pac-10. Before last Saturday, USC was giving up roughly 80 yards a game on the ground. Oregon totaled 392. Discipline or not, the Cardinal aren’t good enough on defense to stop Oregon.

9. Wilner says: Chris Owusu, who has taken three kicks back for touchdowns, is due to break a big return beacause he hasn’t in awhile.
OTP says: Stanford and Oregon are the top two teams in covering kickoffs. I doubt either will break down this week even against stellar returners. And as we’ll see later, Wilner has a penchant for figuring something will happen on the sole basis that it’s due. In that case, I’d like to bet everything I have on black.

8. Wilner says: Stanford ruined Oregon’s big season in 2001.
OTP says: Cute fact and completely irrelevant for a game being played in 2009.

7. Wilner says: The Cardinal believe they can win and almost did a year ago with a gimpy Toby Gerhart and no Andrew Luck.
OTP says: Oh my God! And the Ducks don’t have LeGarrette Blount like they did last year! Okay, give Wilner credit. He’s getting closer to having something to do with 2009. Still pretty irrelevant, though, considering the conditions of that game were terrible.

FOTB Pick

6. Wilner says: Masoli played a clunker in his last game in the Bay Area against California.
OTP says: Yikes! That’s three completely irrelevant points in a row. The Cal game was played in roughly three feet of standing water. Masoli has never played well in rainy conditions. Saturday’s forecast is all sunshine.

5. Wilner says: Only USC has gone undefeated in Pac-10 play this decade so Oregon is due to lose eventually.
OTP says: Perhaps the most irrelevant point of all. Oregon is playing Stanford, not some mystic voodoo that disallows a team from winning all its games.

4. Wilner says: The game is played on grass which will slow Oregon’s speed, but not effect Stanford’s physicality.
OTP says: Maybe. The Ducks have only played one game on grass this year and it was their worst offensive output of the season. It was also without Jeremiah Masoli and LaMichael James was still well over 100 yards. Pretty sure the playing surface won’t mean a thing when Oregon’s at full strength.

3. Wilner says: Stanford’s wine and cheese crowd will have a reverse atmosphere effect and lull the Ducks to sleep.
OTP says: Really? This is the third best reason Stanford wins? There will be plenty of atmosphere courtesy of the thousands of Duck fans expected to attend.

2. Wilner says: It’s good to play teams after they faced USC. Oregon is primed for a letdown. Stanford is rested coming off of a bye.
OTP says: Uh oh, Stanford is outscoring opponents 109-21 under Jim Harbaugh coming off of a bye week.  What? That was against Washington State, San Jose State and Notre Dame? Really, they even lost to 3-9 Notre Dame? Scary. Well, what about teams letting down after playing USC? A quick fact check reveals Oregon is 6-1 this decade following games against the Trojans.

1. Wilner says: Stanford controls the ball with it’s power running game against an undersized Oregon defense. They mix in some play-action passes and the net result is less possession time for Oregon. Stanford will score at will in the second half while the Ducks offense sputters from its lack of rhythm.
OTP says: Ok, if Stanford does win, this is probably how it happens. However, the blog would like to dip into an overused cliche and channel Lee Corso with it’s first “Not so fast my friend!” of the season. Oregon is two seconds from being in last place for time of possession. You can go on long drives all you want. It takes IBM’s Roadrunner supercomputer more time to run 2+2 than it does for the Ducks to score (too geeky? Yeah, thought so). As for wearing Oregon down in the second half, well Mr. Wilner, it hasn’t happened yet, so it’s bound to happen now. Right?

Sometimes, blogs get hangovers too, so if it seems the place is a bit dead, just know it’s refocusing and getting back up for another round.

Hopefully, so too will the Oregon Ducks football team.

Eugene was some kind of utopia on Saturday and given how early many got started with ESPN’s College GameDay, there was very little of the day that went unused. For the blog, it started with an early morning flight and ended late at a place that would make ESPN’s Neil Everett proud (Rennie’s of course). For all, it was one hell of a day.

But this isn’t so much about the party as it is about how we move on.

All the excitement and hype of the day and the week preceding may have manifested itself into three and a half hours of perfection that vaulted Oregon into a Rose Bowl driver seat, but it’s all for not if the Ducks don’t forget everything they just did. They’ll need to put forth the same preparation and the same effort for a Stanford team that defends its home turf like a rabid animal.

In year’s past, this was a legitimate concern. Oregon played hangover games all the time and left you feeling frustrated by a group so capable and yet so easily distracted.

Now, not so much. Chip Kelly’s stringent policy that the most important game you’ll ever play is this week seems to really work. It’s fun to mock because it’s so silly to fans and media, but it has a genuine purpose that his team has bought hook, line and sinker.

There was no hangover from Boise State, just a win the following week. After beating Cal in an emotional, “we’re back” statement game, they went right back to business and dismantled a Washington State Cougar team in a way no one else has done all year.

I can almost guarantee Stanford has their full attention, LeGarrette Blount’s status notwithstanding. The Cardinal is a team that has only one loss at home in the last two seasons and is still somewhat in the race for the conference crown.

Lose to Stanford and Oregon opens the door back up for a litany of teams to challenge for the top spot. Win and it’s virtually shut to all but Arizona.

No doubt, a big game looms this weekend, one the Ducks can ill afford to lose. If eight games has been any indication, the Ducks know this more than anyone.

Welcome to Game Day. For the many of you who haven’t watched a live Oregon game on TV since the trip to Boise, trust me, the view via plasma has become a lot better since then. You’ll enjoy.

As for me, I’m giving that nice couch groove some time off and am probably figuring out a way to enjoy beer before noon at the Rose Bowl as you read this. Here’s a select look at the week that was in links with a thanking nod to Duck Sports News for its daily collection of news.

• Ted Miller had a superb mailbag on Friday. He has a great response to the thought that LeGarrette Blount’s reinstatement had anything to do with the presence of a lawyer. There’s also a well-reasoned take on why an 11-1 Oregon would be higher ranked than 12-0 Boise. I know, pie in the sky stuff, but something I was thinking about addressing during the bye week.
• sportsBYbrooks wonders about Oregon’s “laundering” of Blount with big names like Tony Dungy and Dr. Harry Edwards. At this point, if you commit a very public crime, wouldn’t your first call be to Dungy?I’m kicking myself for not writing about this.
• Ken Woody, who’s always worth a read, tackles the Autzen Mystique. There’s science, human opinion, stats and a few shades of homerism. In other words, all the elements for a great post.
• Jeff Smith formally introduced us to Nate Costa and after reading, you have to feel at least a little more confident that Nate can handle the moment this weekend.
• Not a link because I wouldn’t even know who to credit, but the biggest news of the week was the ongoing saga of Oregon’s injury situation. Chip Kelly remained tight-lipped and even seemed a little, pardon the pun, chippy. I’m thinking he’ll need to relax a little bit over the long-haul in laid back Eugene.
• I actually linked to this yesterday, but it’s worth repeating. Paul Wulff said he was miffed at Chip Kelly’s defensive challenge to preserve the shutout last Saturday. He also says he’s collecting chips on his shoulder to pay back someday. Something tells me Chip isn’t shaking over Wulff’s “chips.”
• Finally, on the recruiting front, the Ducks picked up a marquee offensive lineman from Arizona named Nick Rowland. He’s listed as one of the top players in the country at his position by multiple scouting services.

There were many an interesting link this week and while I can’t keep up with it daily, I’ll try and sum up the week with some of my faves each Friday or Saturday.

• From AddictedtoQuack, an in depth look at the struggles of Jeremiah Masoli in poor weather situations. I’d be interested to see that data compiled into some sort of averages, but I was too lazy to do it myself.
• First, LeGarrette Blount offered another apology, this time in the Oregon Daily Emerald. Then, he was back on track for reinstatement.
• Ken Goe ruined my belief in Santa Claus, but at least made up for it by entertaining me.
• I found a coach clearly busying himself with anything other than proper voting (I’ll give you a hint: Air Force coach Troy Calhoun votes Cal 19th, leaves Oregon unranked).
• We found out coach Kelly does at least look at the polls even if he says they don’t matter. For the record, his take – “It doesn’t make sense” – parallels that of every free-thinking human.
• There was even a nice story on former Oregon point guard Kenya Wilkins taking his place in history among other Ducks players.
• Of course, worst link of the week goes to this. Losing Walter Thurmond III is a devastating blow to the Ducks defense.

Chip Kelly announced today that LeGarrette Blount has an opportunity for reinstatement and can be eligible as early as the Stanford game on November 7.

As you read about Blount continuing to do the right thing in the wake of the incident, one couldn’t help but root for this moment.

We’re talking about a guy that messed up big time, but also about a guy who loves the University of Oregon and seemed to accept his fate not just with words, but with his actions as well.

With so many millions of dollars at stake, you have a right to be skeptical of the sincerity, but a year was always too long of a punishment. It served to quell the immediate uprising more than to dole out appropriate justice.

Now, he’ll have his chance to prove to everyone that there’s more to LeGarrette Blount than a bad moment stuck in perpetual replay on SportsCenter.

For Kelly, it’s obviously a simpler decision given that the team has succeeded without him. If the Ducks had gone 0-4 (or even 2-2), pressure on Kelly would be mounting and the move would look like an act of desperation. Instead, LaMichael James has emerged at running back and Blount can be folded back into the mix without it looking like anything more than a second chance.

You may not agree with the decision, but it’s clear Kelly is a man of conviction who does what he believes is right regardless of public perception. It’s not like he or the program needs this, because after a three game winning streak, Kelly had finally brought calm to a stormy first month on the job.

Now he’s virtually ensured all but Barnum and Bailey will be on campus from here on out. It’s a huge risk, but one Kelly feels is worth taking for the sake of an individual.

As Kelly said in his press conference, “You’re going to get critiqued in this job every step of the way. My concern is LeGarrette.”

It’s not for the cameras or any of our moral righteousness, simply for LeGarrette Blount.

Some prediction posts are more entertaining than others. Frankly, I’d rather talk about LeGarrette Blount right now instead of Washington State. Of course, I’ve already done that and it would be an egregious violation of Chip’s policy to write off a game before it’s been played. Regardless, though, we all know what’s going to happen at Autzen tomorrow will be something of a blood bath for the Cougars.

FOTB's Pick

Washington State is bringing in an injury-riddled offensive line to protect a true freshman at quarterback. I don’t think USC could survive Autzen Stadium under those circumstance let alone the Cougars. Speaking of the Trojans, though, Wazzu was much more competitive down in the Coliseum against the men of Troy last weekend than anyone could have predicted.

After a 69-0 beat down a year ago on their home field, a 21 point loss probably felt like some sort of moral victory for Washington State. Is that cause to believe our neighbors from the Palouse might have an upset in them or at the very least, some spirited competition?

In a moment of brevity, I have but one word in me. No.

With Oregon’s newfound prowess on defense, they’ll likely shut down an offense that ranks ninth in total overall in the conference. Even worse for the Cougars is their anemic defense that is giving up over 500 yards and almost 33 points per game.

If there’s one bright spot for the Cougars, it’s a passing attack that currently ranks third among Pac-10 teams, but even that statistical nugget is something of a mirage. The team is last in passing efficiency and has thrown twice as many interceptions as touchdown passes.

No matter how you look at it, this is Oregon’s game. Now, about LeGarrette Blount…